Watching the TAL video Jude posted below was both delightful and a little sad at the same time- the artless candor of children on the one hand, but also how vulnerable and impressionable they can be. Which then reminded me of something else that Jude had shared with me recently: this PBS special, A Class Divided is a arresting look at how one Iowa teacher in 1968 taught her third-grade class a devastating lesson on prejudice and discrimination. It won the 1985 Emmy for Outstanding Informational, Cultural, & Historical Programming and is also one of PBS Frontline most requested programs ever.
I won't say much about it except that it's almost like Schindler's List and The Stanford Prison Experiment, but in primary school. I STRONGLY urge that you watch it- everyone should- but make sure you have a box of Kleenex next to you and that you're sitting down. Be cautioned: it's very powerful, very uncomfortable to watch and I wish there was a better way to teach this lesson to children. It also shows you how children are more politically and socially aware than adults give them credit for. Some of the sentiments articulated by these eight-year-olds are more honest and insightful than you'll ever hear from the most learned adult. And the fact that something so fundamental to human existence even has to be taught in the first place makes it even more heartbreaking. I don't think I could bear to watch it another time without breaking down again.
There are originally five parts to this series; here are YouTube links to the first two, and they're also the most powerful ones. You can see the rest of them here.
4 comments:
This is really thought-provoking. I actually think the one in the prison system (#4) is even more interesting because she's a lot tougher with adults than with children.
Apete says he's seen this, like, 3 times growing up, but I don't remember seeing it before. Thanks for blogging about it.
no problem srah :) i'm glad you appreciate the clips.
and you're right about what she does with the adults. not only is she harder with them, they also respond to her more than to each other, unlike the children.
i really liked this. There were some instances i thought the kids were going to hurl vulgarities at her for saying that they were less smart or naughty because of their eye colour (which might happen in today's context)..but i liked how she built it up over a span of a day (behaviourist/ constructivist perspective) and proceeded to switch over the next day. Very poignant and a good structured experience. =)
hi michelle, i know what you mean. i'm not sure if her teaching method will work in schools today, especially in Singapore.
the necessity for lessons like this more than 30 years later is kinda essential, but also sad because of how essential it is. you'd think in 30 years, we would have made some progress in terms of greater human understanding already...
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